Costa Rica. The Final Chapter.

Hello! And happy Thursday y’all. This is my third and final Costa Rica post then it’s back to recipes…I promise! I have to be honest, I haven’t been cooking as much with Bryan gone. I’ve been making salads and a few frozen Amy’s meals (my fav).

Don’t judge me.

As I mentioned in the last post, our next and final stop was San Gerardo de Dota– a small town huddled up against the Talamanca Mountain Range that is a haven for birdwatchers and hikers – precisely why Bryan chose for it to be our final destination. There was one specific bird we were on the lookout for: the Quetzal, considered to be one of the most beautiful birds in the world…

We had to take a long (and very hot) bus ride to get there. It dropped us off at the top of a hill and when we arrived it was pouring rain so we opted to pop into a little bar and grab a few beers. The rain didn’t last long and it felt rather refreshing. Soon we were in a cab and on our way down the hill.

When we arrived to the small town, it felt surreal. It was like a scene from a movie.

Lush, green hillsides and hundreds of flowers.

These were my favorite – hens and chicks. Yeah, I know we have them in North America, but these ones were different and they were everywhere.

Right when we arrived, we went on our Quetzal mission. We hiked for a few hours then on our way back down…

Bryan spotted one! We really didn’t think it would be possible to spot one without a guide, but sure enough, there he was, in all of his glistening green glory.

Quetzal mission complete on day one! Bryan was ecstatic.

The next day we took a nice hike down the some incredible waterfalls.

I took this picture because I always get a good chuckle thinking about the places I end up with I follow this guy. 🙂 It was beautiful.

We stopped for lunch at Cafe Kahawa – they specialized in trout dishes. We laughed because the trout looked & tasted like salmon, but boy was it tasty! We liked it so much we went twice.

Our final day we went on a bird watching tour and saw a family of 8 quetzals! Unfortunately, I no longer have the pictures.:( But I promise you, it happened. 🙂 Then we relaxed in our room – the above picture is the view from our bed. Not too shabby, eh?

And there you have it! Our wonderful adventure to Costa Rica – a trip of a lifetime.